METHUEN — If people want to fight for money for their favorite school program, Mayor William Manzi said they should do it now.
The state gave Methuen $37.4 million in Chapter 70 education aid this fiscal year, and lawmakers are proposing to reduce that figure by 4 percent for the fiscal year that starts July 1, according to Manzi. That would be a reduction of $1.5 million.
"There are going to be Draconian cuts imposed," Manzi said at last night's School Committee meeting.
Students and parents packed School Committee meetings last June — weeks before officials voted on the budget — to urge them not to make cuts to the school band program. Administrators had planned to leave some music teacher positions unfilled because of financial restrictions, but they eventually nixed that idea.
"Nobody wanted anything cut," recalled School Committee member Barbara Grondine. "There's just so much money to go around."
Rather than wait until the eleventh hour, Manzi, the School Committee chairman, said people should mobilize immediately if they want to advocate for something.
"I think the time is right now," he said.
School officials last night did not lay out specifics about what will be slashed. Superintendent Jeanne Whitten is scheduled to present a budget proposal that will show cuts on April 12 at 7 p.m. in City Hall. The School Committee and City Council will need to vote on the school budget before the new fiscal year starts on July 1.
Committee Vice Chairman Robert Vogler said that if people have a problem, they should look at Beacon Hill, not City Hall.
"The only place you're going to get the money is not the Methuen School Committee, it's the state representatives and the state senators that work on the budget," he said.
Vogler hopes teaching staff cuts will be the "last resort," he said.
